Chapter 275: Strength in Numbers is the Way (2)
Chapter 275: Strength in Numbers is the Way (2)
While Patrick focused his attention on the dark mage, Rust.
Rust’s disciples, having received their orders, smirked as they looked upon the forces of the Schneider Duchy.
“It’s been a while since our last party.”
“Shall we have some fun, then?”
“While getting drenched in blood, of course.”
They quickly began casting.
Magic circles formed of pure mana appeared beneath their feet.
Seeing this, a mage from the Tower of Truth shouted urgently.
“Stop them! They’re summoning undead!”
But it was already too late.
“Rise! People of Death!”
Crunch! Crack! Snap!
Countless swarms of the dead burst through the ground.
Skeletons, ghouls, zombies, Big Faces, and more…
In an instant, over a thousand undead monsters—far exceeding a mere few hundred—revealed themselves.
The mage dispatched from the Tower of Truth frowned at the sight.
“To think only three people could summon this many.”
“They don’t seem like ordinary dark mages.”
“Mmm…”
The rank of a dark mage can be determined by the level of the undead monsters they summon.
The women before them had summoned over a thousand undead with simple casting and no special preparations. This was proof that the level of these three was anything but ordinary.
And if these three were at this level, the person they called their master had to be an even greater powerhouse. Indeed…
Boom! Roar!
In the distance, Patrick was clashing with Rust, the air filled with explosive sounds.
The space where Patrick’s Aura Blades clashed with hellfire and lightning was so volatile that no one dared to approach.
It was then.
“Fire!”
As soon as the dark mages summoned the undead, the elves were the first to release their arrows.
These were no ordinary arrows; they were imbued with Spirit Flame.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
The rain of flaming arrows pouring down on the undead horde dealt fatal damage to the zombies.
Even if they couldn't directly assist Patrick in his battle, they had to make sure his disciples were dealt with.
However, the dark mages did not just stand by.
They pulled skull wands from their robes and began a long, serious incantation.
Vroom.
Magic circles, far more complex and massive than anything seen so far, manifested.
One in the air.
Two on the ground.
It was clear at a glance that the monsters being summoned now were on an entirely different level from the previous undead.
This was the standard combat style of dark mages: first, summon a wall of undead to buy time, and then summon the real threats in the meantime.
“Stop them! Don’t let them finish the casting!”
The mages of the Tower of Truth, well-versed in the tactics of dark mages, shouted desperately.
At that, the magic swordsmen took to the sky, flying over the heads of the undead.
“Do you logically think we’d just let you be?”
Riman Sierra, flying swiftly, attempted to split the skull of one of the dark mages.
No matter how powerful a monster they tried to summon, it would all be for naught if the summoner was eliminated first. However…
Rumble…
Riman’s attempt was a step too late.
The dark mages finished their summoning a moment sooner, and something emerging from the magic circle in the air spat out vicious flames, attacking the magic swordsmen.
“Evade!”
“Urgh…”
The magic swordsmen quickly threw themselves aside to avoid the fire.
The flames blasted into the space they had just occupied, scorching the very air.
And the entity that fully emerged from the magic circle was none other than…
“An undead Wyvern?”
“Damn it, and it’s an Elder species at that.”
“To think such a thing could be made undead…”
Wyverns are considered among the most dangerous of flying monsters.
Among them, those that have lived long lives and evolved to increase their size and strength are called Elder Wyverns.
It was unknown where these dark mages had obtained it, but they had turned the corpse of such a creature into an undead. And that wasn't all.
“They’re coming on the ground too!”
“Blast it, stay sharp!”
Unlike the Elder Wyvern in the sky, the monsters summoned on the ground were demonic entities.
“ROOOAAR!”
The three-headed guardian hound of hell, Cerberus. And…
“Kahahaha! To think I’d be in the mortal realm after hundreds of years!”
The demon Fit Dead, said to torment and lash sinners fallen to hell.
“This is insane.”
“To summon two demons of hell at once.”
Even the knights of the Schneider Duchy, who were accustomed to monsters, were seeing demons of hell for the first time.
The summoned Fit Dead manifested a whip of fire in the air and swung it grandly.
KABOOM!
A terrifying explosion of heat swept over the knights and Orc warriors fighting at the front.
“Guh…”
“Kantata?! Are you alright?”
“This is nothing… Argh…”
The Fit Dead’s whip was so powerful that it rendered even the Orcs, who had evolved into High Orcs, incapable of combat in a single strike.
The knights hurriedly tended to the fallen Orcs.
“Kahahaha. Suffer more!”
The Fit Dead prepared to launch another attack at the humans. But before he could…
Flash!
A streak of light struck the Fit Dead first.
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my subordinates!”
The one who blocked the Fit Dead’s attack was Sanson.
Sanson, who had been commanding from the rear and observing the situation, decided that further commanding was meaningless and rushed to the front.
He challenged the Fit Dead head-on.
A full-power Flash Dragon Strike.
It wasn't quite at the level of Patrick or April, but it was the full strength of a 7-Star knight. With this…
“Hehehe. That tickles.”
A cruel smile played on the Fit Dead’s lips.
He had been pushed back slightly by Sanson’s Flash Dragon Strike, but that was it.
He didn't seem to have taken any real damage. Then…
“Now, try taking one of mine!”
He swung the flaming whip in his hand downward, aiming straight for Sanson’s head.
For a moment, Sanson thought he should dodge, but then he remembered the Fit Dead’s massive attack range from the first strike.
‘I won’t dodge.’
To block it, he poured Aura Blades into his twin swords and crossed them over his head.
KABOOOOM!
“Ugh…”
In an instant, one of Sanson’s knees buckled.
He had managed to block the Fit Dead’s attack, but his body had buckled under the sheer impact.
“Kahahaha. You’re quite something for a human. To block a strike from me, a demon of hell?”
“…Tui!”
Sanson spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
He stood up and glared at the Fit Dead with smoldering eyes.
‘He’s stronger than me. But…’
So what?
[In the first place, martial arts were created for the weak to face the strong. So don't get scared just because you meet someone stronger. That’s the worst thing you can do. If you’re going to be like that, you might as well…]
Grit.
“I’ll bite your throat out.”
He had to show a fighting spirit bordering on madness.
Just as someone had advised him.
“Kahahaha. Come, strong human!”
“Hyaaaah!”
Sanson challenged the Fit Dead head-on.
“Support the Captain!”
“Vice-Captain?!”
“I’m fine, support the Captain!”
April shouted urgently.
And she, who was shouting, wasn't exactly idle either.
“ROOOAAR!”
The massive three-headed dog.
She was handling the infamous hellhound, Cerberus, all by herself.
Dodging the attack of the Cerberus as it lunged at her with its massive maws open, she landed on top of one of its heads. Then…
“Hup!”
A single flash of her Aura Blade swung with all her might.
It was an attack delivered with her full strength. However…
Skreeeeeeeech.
‘What kind of hide is this…?’
The Cerberus’s hide easily deflected even April’s Aura Blade.
Then, as if it were nothing, it shook its body violently, throwing April off its head.
Aiming for the moment April was airborne, the Cerberus snapped its jaws wide.
There was nowhere to dodge in mid-air.
“April!”
Horrified by the sight, Elione tried to call upon the wind spirits to help her.
But this was April.
She arched her back like a bow in mid-air. Then…
“Hup!”
Snap!
Using the elasticity generated by snapping her upper body forward, her form shot forward like an arrow.
If Patrick had seen it, he would have called it the textbook definition of the Body-Arching Spring, a perfect shift in center of gravity.
Thanks to that, the Cerberus, which had tried to swallow her in one bite, only snapped at the empty air.
Landing on the ground, April muttered with a cold expression.
“If the Aura Blade won’t cut it…”
What came to her mind then was someone’s teaching.
[Most problems in the world can eventually be solved by bashing them.]
“Then I’ll just bash you until you break.”
The Aura Blades on April’s twin swords shed their refined form and began to emit an even more ferocious momentum.
Holding the Aura Blades, which seemed to be erupting with flames, in both hands, she charged at the Cerberus once more.
Twin Dragons Eight Sword Styles.
Third Form.
Flash Dragon Strike.
BOOM!
Despite being a sword technique, the Flash Dragon Strike felt more like a blunt-force bash than a cut or a thrust.
“AWOOOO!”
The powerful attack didn't pierce the Cerberus’s hide, but the impact itself was delivered perfectly.
Hit squarely on the crown of its middle head, the Cerberus howled in pain. However…
“ROOOAAR!”
It was a hellhound, after all.
Even after taking such a hit, it still lunged at April, its ferocity unabated, trying to crush her. But…
“Let’s see how long you can hold out.”
April was no pushover either.
If she lost here, it would mean the Young Master’s teaching(?) was wrong.
She could not allow such a thing to happen as long as she drew breath. Therefore…
“If it doesn’t work, I’ll keep doing it until it does.”
Boom! Bang! Crash!
Flash Dragon Strike.
Adaptive Three-Strike Combo.
“ROOOAAR!”
‘If this still isn’t enough…’
Grit.
April’s eyes glinted with killing intent as she faced the still-raging Cerberus.
Boom! Boom-boom! Boom-boom-boom!
Four strikes, five strikes… nine, ten, eleven…
“Whoa…”
“She’s relentless.”
Those watching could only click their tongues in awe.
Of the Cerberus’s three heads, the one in the middle was being pounded so hard it was starting to sink into its neck like a turtle’s.
If that head could speak, it would have protested, asking why she was only hitting him and leaving the other two alone.
Finally, a single streak of golden light flew toward the head that was now completely recessed.
KABOOOOM!
“YELP!”
Finally, a pathetic whimper escaped the Cerberus’s mouth. And the middle head, which had been the focus of April’s assault, went limp, its tongue lolling out.
It was dead.
With one of the three heads dead and hanging uselessly, the two remaining heads on the left and right were thrown into a panic.
In this state, it was difficult to move. And above all…
“One down in twenty-seven strikes… Then I just need to bash you fifty-four more times.”
This human was too terrifying.
In the end, the Cerberus had to make a choice.
“AWOOOOOOO!”
The two heads let out a great howl, and a rift in red space appeared before them. Then…
“No! Don’t go!”
The dark mage who had summoned the Cerberus screamed from behind, but the Cerberus ignored her and retreated back to where it came from through the rift.
It was a voluntary forced-recall by the summoned creature. And this…
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
Inevitably forced a massive backlash upon the summoner.
The dark mage clutched her head and shrieked in agony.
Blood began to flow from her eyes, nose, and mouth.
Normally, there is no set hierarchy in the relationship between a summoner and a summon.
However, in the case of this dark mage and the Cerberus, the Cerberus was strictly the one in control.
Originally, she had barely managed to contract the guardian hound of hell, which was beyond her level, with the assistance of her master.
In the process, she had used her mana and life force as collateral, and the unilateral right to terminate the contract belonged to the Cerberus, not her.
The result of a thoroughly unfair contract.
She had to pay a devastating price even though the Cerberus had unilaterally broken the contract.
And as she collapsed…
“The undead are thinning out!”
“Now is the time! Move forward!”
“WAAAAAAAAGH!”
Just by one of the three dark mages falling, the number of constantly summoned undead decreased significantly.
Taking advantage of this momentum, the knights and Orc warriors surged forward. And…
“Sister-in-law. Are you alright?”
“Lord Tutan.”
Tutan, who had evolved beyond a High Orc into an Orc Legion Commander, approached April to check on her.
It was a surprisingly sweet and considerate gesture for an Orc…
“Please take care of yourself. You must give birth to the children of my Great Brother, the mighty warrior.”
“……”
‘This sexual-harassment-happy Orc…’
She felt like punching him.
April thought this, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
In their own way, this was the Orcs’ version of consideration.
And above all…
‘Is this my limit for now?’
As Tutan said, she needed to be careful now.
Looking at her hands, they were trembling from a lack of grip strength on her swords.
This was the first time she had used this many Flash Dragon Strikes in actual combat.
Furthermore, every single one had been a Flash Dragon Strike performed with her full power.
As a price, her body had reached its limit.
To be honest, if the Cerberus hadn't retreated first, the outcome of the battle would have been uncertain.
‘I’m glad I could bluff it with momentum.’
She let out a sigh and said,
“I will recover my body in the rear while providing Aura Blessings for a moment. Lord Tutan, please support Captain Sanson.”
“Ohhh. Leave it to me, Sister-in-law. I, Tutan, will do my best to protect this land until the day you give birth to Brother’s healthy children.”
“……”
Since they were in the middle of a battle, she had no choice.
I’ll deal with you later. Later…